The majority of scholarly and everyday discourse posits globalization as the defining characteristic of the twenty-first century. Although it is an essentially contested concept most attribute globalization with transforming as well as creating new economic, political, cultural, and social relations, which affect every person on the globe. In this reconfiguring, global capitalism has become the dominant global economic structure and reorganized production, finance, and consumption (Robinson, 2006a: 1). Capitalist globalizations unbridled demand for growth and profit has led to numerous problems including crises of overaccumulation and sustainability. In the search for profits transnational actors work to commodify every facet of social life and capitalist relations have come to govern everything including peoples relationship with the environment. Dimitris Stevis (2002, 2005) and other scholars (see Kamal Pasha & Blaney, 1998) suggest the time is ripe to place environmental and other social entities within the political economy (Stevis, 2005: 330). In response to Stevis call, this paper examines how water scarcity is a global crisis that must be studied within the broader crisis of sustainability caused by global capitalism. In the process it investigates the efforts to privatize water and transform it from a common resource and human right to a commodity.

Bywater, Krista."Globalization and the Destruction of the Commons: Exploring the Global Water Crisis" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, TBA, New York, New York City, Aug 11, 2007<Not Available>. 2013-12-15 <http://citation.allacademic.com/meta/p184280_index.html>

APA Citation:

Bywater, K. , 2007-08-11"Globalization and the Destruction of the Commons: Exploring the Global Water Crisis" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, TBA, New York, New York CityOnline <PDF>. 2013-12-15 from http://citation.allacademic.com/meta/p184280_index.html

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished ManuscriptAbstract: The majority of scholarly and everyday discourse posits globalization as the defining characteristic of the twenty-first century. Although it is an essentially contested concept most attribute globalization with transforming as well as creating new economic, political, cultural, and social relations, which affect every person on the globe. In this reconfiguring, global capitalism has become the dominant global economic structure and reorganized production, finance, and consumption (Robinson, 2006a: 1). Capitalist globalizations unbridled demand for growth and profit has led to numerous problems including crises of overaccumulation and sustainability. In the search for profits transnational actors work to commodify every facet of social life and capitalist relations have come to govern everything including peoples relationship with the environment. Dimitris Stevis (2002, 2005) and other scholars (see Kamal Pasha & Blaney, 1998) suggest the time is ripe to place environmental and other social entities within the political economy (Stevis, 2005: 330). In response to Stevis call, this paper examines how water scarcity is a global crisis that must be studied within the broader crisis of sustainability caused by global capitalism. In the process it investigates the efforts to privatize water and transform it from a common resource and human right to a commodity.